March 2, 2012

Oroville Mercury Register
April 24, 1942
Rides Bombers

PVT. Earl Cochran son of Mr. and Mrs. N. M. Cochran of Oroville who is at an Atlantic Coast air base awaiting orders for foreign service. Trained as a radio operator on big bombers, Cochran graduated April 2 from the U. S. Army air corps technical school in Illinois. A graduate of Oroville High School and later an employee of the telephone company, Cochran entered the army last Oct. 10.

Oroville Mercury Register
April 24, 1942
Soviets Hold Plane After Tokyo Raid

Kuibyshev, Russia – (U.P.)- Russia announced Friday that a United States Warplane which landed in Russia last Saturday after taking part in an American air raid on Japan had been interned “in conformity with universally accepted international rules.” It was announced at the same time that Admiral William H. Standley, new United States ambassador, conferred at Moscow for more than one hour with Premier Josef Stalin and Foreign Commissar Viacheslav Molotov Thursday. A communiqué of the official news agency Tass revealed the safe landing of the United States plane in Russia’s maritime province in far eastern Siberia.

Oroville Mercury Register
April 24, 1942

Jacobs Asks Families To Be Prepared
Have Equipment Ready To Extinguish Fire Bombs Quickly
As chairman of Oroville Civilian Defense, Douglas Jacobs today urged every family in the city and vicinity to provide proper equipment to extinguish fire bombs in their homes. In a statement on defense methods, Jacobs said; “Oroville Civilian Defense officials are pleased at the number of people who made it their business to see the film, Fighting the Fire Bomb. The response to this educational film is most encouraging. It proves Oroville people are not deluding themselves with the thought it can’t happen here. They are wide awake and anxious to learn how to protect themselves and their homes. The terrible lessons of Pearl Harbor and Singapore have been taken seriously.
Households should organize their own fire department among members of the family. I strongly advise that you secure your equipment now and determine the task that each member of the family is to perform if a fire bomb drops on you. In that way there will be no confusion and no hysteria if the emergency comes. Everyone will know exactly what they are to do. “As to equipment, you know from seeing the film that the following can be successfully employed: buckets of sand, long-handled square-nosed shovel, a hoe is also good to rake bomb into shovel after covered with sand. Soda-acid water-type fire extinguisher (2 of these are necessary to extinguish a bomb), water hand-pump extinguisher which can be refilled while pumping, a garden hose with adjustable spray nozzle. This must be long enough to reach anyplace in the house. A hand ax is a good thing to have also.

Oroville Mercury Register
April 24, 1942

Twelve Pass Final Test In First Aid
Personal News Of Thermalito Folk
Thermalito- Thermalito first aid class has finished with twelve taking the final test. They will celebrate the achievement with a chicken supper, at the “Wye.” Mrs. Hazel Brandis was instructor.

Stu’s Notes: This is all we know of Pvt. Earl Cochran, so I thought I’d call Faye Anglen, OHS class of 1942. She could not recall Pvt. Earl Cochran. She is planning a 70 year reunion of the Oroville High School Class of 1942, in September. She always invites others of the 30’s and 40’s to come. Hundreds of Oroville High School kids of this era went to war. I have some of the stories but not all, still looking of course my stories cover all those that served even if they never left the states. My thought on that is All Veterans that served our country would go where they were told, many were needed in places that a shot was never fired, and many volunteered to go to the worst of places and there are many that went beyond the call of duty.

 
The Soviets knew how to play both sides against the middle, so to speak. They were our so called allies in WWII and we helped them tremendously but they were not at War yet with Japan as we were. Hitler wanted Japan to fight the Soviet Union (Russia) but Russia waited until after we dropped the Atomic Bomb and Russia knew it was a safe time to declare War on Japan, to claim territory which they did. Three B-29’s our most advanced bomber at the time landed in Russia after bombing Japan and of course they kept them and copied them down to the last rivet. Then made 1,000’s of them incase they needed to go to war with us. That 1st plane that landed in Russia was a B25 Mitchell Bomber of the Doolittle Raiders of the 16 that ran out of gas after the raid and due to a more sever fuel problem one went to Russia instead of the planned China landing area.

looked pretty bleak after Pearl Harbor and many thought we would be bombed by Japan. It didn’t happen until later when the Balloon Bombs came to and over Oroville and our North West Coast. But that is another story. I love that statement “If a fire bomb drops on you”. Isn’t it all over for you if that happens?